During a press briefing on Monday, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric stressed “the importance invested in the work of UNIFIL and the need for the mandate to be renewed, as the Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) has recommended.”
UNIFIL’s mandate is due to be renewed for a year at the end of August. The Security Council must adopt a resolution to this end. This will come as no surprise, although Stephane Dujarric emphasized that “as with any peacekeeping mission, the renewal of the mandate is in the hands of the 15 members of the Security Council.”
“I think UNIFIL plays a critical role along the Blue Line and as a stabilizing factor between Israel and Lebanon,” he added, without specifying whether the Secretary-General would hold talks with delegations from the two countries this week.
However, uncertainty persists over the resolution’s clause relating to the freedom of movement of UNIFIL patrols in its area of operations. The United States is in favor of maintaining the formula that guarantees peacekeepers free access to the places they wish to inspect in this zone, while Lebanon insists on the importance of prior coordination with the army to better maintain stability in the border area.
Resolution 2650, adopted at the end of August 2022, states that “the UNIFIL does not require prior authorization or permission to undertake its mandated tasks and that it is authorized to conduct its operation independently.” The text “condemns in the strongest terms all attempts to deny access or restrict the freedom of movement of UNIFIL’s personnel and all attacks on UNIFIL personnel and equipment (…) and calls on the Government of Lebanon to facilitate UNIFIL’s prompt and full access to sites requested by UNIFIL for the purpose of swift investigation, including all relevant locations north of the Blue Line related to the discovery of tunnels crossing the Blue Line, which UNIFIL reported as a violation of resolution 1701 (2006), in line with resolution 1701, while respecting the Lebanese Sovereignty”.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel fears that the UN Security Council will limit the powers of the UNIFIL to “monitoring Hezbollah’s military activities against Israel on the border with Lebanon.” This border has been extremely tense in recent weeks due to provocative acts on both sides.
Its fears are directly linked to pressure from Lebanon to amend this formula.
The Jerusalem Post claims that Tel Aviv fears above all that such coordination would “allow Hezbollah to know in advance UNIFIL’s movements.”
